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A short historical paper gives evidence that Einstein was not the first who discovered ##E=mc^2##.
https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0608289
https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0608289
martinbn said:Very strange paper. The main point is about the priority, not about the history or the physics. Even the wikipedia article is more informative!
I totally agree! There is a discrepancy between textbooks in which theorems and formulas are referred to by the name of scientists, and the real world, where scientific development is a jigsaw puzzle. Roughly between 1850 and 1950 there have been a lot of new ideas in the air: physics as well as mathematics experienced a revolution! Of course it is not fair to summarize all the many insights which were found by the name of a single scientist - Einstein didn't come out of the blue - but one can hardly tell the entire history every time an equation is mentioned. If we wanted to honor all scientists which made great efforts in the century I mentioned, we would get a long list. I guess the naming refers much more to the impact an equation has rather than who was first.Mister T said:The history is much messier than textbooks would make it appear
Yes, but the Russians invented EVERYTHING and if you don't believe it, just ask them.StSpassky said:The Russian Wikipedia lists 10 names before Einstein.
Not EVERYTHING, any more...phinds said:Yes, but the Russians invented EVERYTHING and if you don't believe it, just ask them.
Glasnost reached the sports world Wednesday at the United Nations when Valentin V. Lozinskiy, the Soviet ambassador, formally relinquished Moscow’s claim to have invented baseball.
“We do not pretend that we invented baseball any longer,” Lozinskiy said at a luncheon for a Hoboken (N.J.) boys team that will tour the Soviet Union next month. “Sometimes we said that, but this is just an empty boast.”
That is true, but it is intellectually satisfying to know which basic physical principles logically force other physical facts to be true. It is worth noticing that ##E=m∗c^2## can be derived from such fundamental concepts as time, distance, and simultaneity, and the Lorentz transformation.Dr. Courtney said:It matters not from where theoretical expressions arise.
The proof or disproof is in experiment alone.
This is the difference between science and math.
OK, but I assume they are hanging on to the radio, the light-bulb, golf, infidelity, airplanes, cars, sliced bread, etc.jtbell said:Not EVERYTHING, any more...
Soviets Give up Claim of Inventing Baseball (Los Angeles Times, 28 July 1988)
phinds said:the Russians invented EVERYTHING and if you don't believe it, just ask them.
Russia. . . not Lenin. . Chekov's Russian MisconceptionsPeterDonis said:Chekov claiming Lenin had invented something first. . .
OCR said:Russia. . . not Lenin.
Oh snap. . . my mistake !PeterDonis said:In the Star Trek episodes I referred to, Chekov says "Lenin", not "Russia". I was giving a particular example of the general pattern.
Dr. Courtney said:It matters not from where theoretical expressions arise.
The proof or disproof is in experiment alone.
This is the difference between science and math.
[/ QUOTE]
I think (for me) both are important, equally. But it is necessary to correctly understand the meaning of theories in physics. A theory is essentially a model that cannot describe a phenomenon in its entirety, but only in part. Every model is usually focused on some facet of the whole phenomenon. GR and SR are not needed to calculate the trajectory of a Cannonball.
Neither do we.StSpassky said:But what I can't stand is handmade myths.
So? Without clear references which stand a rigorous historical and therewith scientific test, each of those statements is worthless, just propaganda. Yes, there have been similar formulas found before, a fact which nobody objects.StSpassky said:History and myths.» 3 proofs of the formula are given: 1) Einstein's derivation using the formula from his future SR, 2)the derivation according to his scheme, but without reference to SR and much simpler, 3)Poincare's derivation in 2 lines 5 years before Einstein.
Wrong. This is simply not true. Einstein only said that the formula can be derived from his postulates about SR. He didn't mention any priority, and surely not "clearly".Someone said said:Einstein, where he clearly assigns himself the priority of the formula derivation
you will be banned from this discussion.StSpassky said:... can't stand ... handmade myths.
This, to my mind, is the real point. Of course, Einstein did not work in a vacuum isolated from previous and contemporary science. It is completely necessary that scientific work utilize previous work.Tghu Verd said:The equation is but the highly visible part of a revolutionary worldview that Einstein seems to have captured and those others did not.
I don't think that even Einstein himself claimed his derivation(s) have full generality.martinbn said:Is there any credible reference to anyone else's work, where the equation is derived in full generality before Einstein?
The equation E=mc^2 was first introduced by the scientist Olinto De Pretto in 1903, two years before Einstein published his theory of relativity. De Pretto's equation was similar to Einstein's, but it did not include the concept of the speed of light being constant.
Yes, in addition to Olinto De Pretto, the French physicist Jules Henri Poincaré also published a similar equation in 1900. However, Einstein's theory of relativity and his explanation of the equation's significance to mass-energy equivalence solidified its place in history.
Einstein's theory of special relativity, published in 1905, provided a deeper understanding of the equation E=mc^2. He showed that mass and energy are interchangeable and that the speed of light is the limiting factor in this conversion. This theory revolutionized the field of physics and has been confirmed by numerous experiments.
After Einstein's theory of relativity, the equation E=mc^2 became an integral part of modern physics and has been used in various fields such as nuclear energy, particle physics, and astrophysics. Over time, scientists have also discovered that the equation is only applicable to objects with mass and cannot be used for massless particles such as photons.
The equation E=mc^2 has had a significant impact on the scientific community. It has led to groundbreaking discoveries and advancements in various fields of science, including nuclear energy, particle physics, and cosmology. It has also changed our understanding of the universe and how it works, solidifying Einstein's place as one of the greatest scientists in history.